The Maryland State Board of Education meets in Baltimore in this August 2023 file photo. Photo by William J. Ford.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) named a longtime educator, an Army veteran and a counselor to the Maryland Board of Education Friday to replace three appointees of former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) whose terms had expired.
The three new members – Kimberly Lewis, Kenny Clash and Xiomara V. Medina – join the 14-member board as it grapples with a controversial state Department of Education proposed literacy plan, which calls for children to repeat third grade if the don’t meet reading standards. The department recently softened that proposal to let parents allow their children to advance to the fourth grade, even if they didn’t meet reading standards.
The board and the department are also entering the third year of a sweeping 10-year education reform plan known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. That proposal faces complaints from local school districts that say it is difficult to meet and too inflexible, and concerns from state lawmakers over its step price tag.
“I look forward to working alongside our new appointees to continue to build the future of K-12 education in Maryland and I thank them for their continued service to the state,” Moore said in a statement announcing the appointments.
According to a short biography from the governor’s office, Lewis has more than 40 years in education that includes time with the department, as an educator in four Maryland school districts and as a member of former Gov. Parris Glendening’s (D) education transition team.
Lewis will replace former board Shawn Bartley, who was appointed by Hogan in 2020. Lewis will complete the remainder of a four-year term that began July 1.
Clash, like Moore, is an Army veteran. He currently works as senior director of finance and operations at Intentional Philanthropy in Montgomery County and replaces another Hogan appointee, Holly Wilcox. He will the four-year term that began July 1.
Medina works as an associate director of clinical training and field placement at Bowie State University’s Department of Counseling and Psychological Studies. She will replace retired Brig. Gen. Warner Sumpter, another Hogan appointee. She will serve the remaining year of a four-year term that began on July 1, 2021.
Four other Hogan appointees remain on the board: Chuen-Chin Bianca Chang and Joan Mele-McCarthy, whose terms expire in 2025; Rachel McCusker, whose term expires in 2026; and Susan Getty, whose termed expired June 30 but who will continue to serve until a successor is named.